From the Publisher
Anyone wishing to comprehend the tangled web of the Israel-Iran confrontation would do well to consult with Dr. Ehud Eilam, a top-drawer scholar and analyst. Israeli Strategies in the Middle East: The Case of Iran makes it clear that although Israel's chief concern is a nuclear-armed Iran, there is much more in play. Iran's proxy in Lebanon - Hezbollah - possesses serious military capability. The collapse of the Syrian state has permitted Iran and Hezbollah to try to open a new anti-Israel front, something Jerusalem has opposed vigorously with a qualified nod from Moscow. And the multifaceted U.S.-Israel relationship remains key to Israel's strategy, notwithstanding differences over the utility of a prospective renewed and revised nuclear deal. Sorting all this out with analytical integrity and precision is not easy. In this remarkable book Dr. Eilam has risen to the task.
-Ambassador Frederic C. Bard College A Vietnam veteran and retired Army officer, he served as special adviser on political transition in Syria to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Iran is the most dangerous threat imposed over Israel's security, directly by its own powers and indirectly by its proxies. Iran's national ingredients – its radical fanatic Islamic regime; its inspirations to extend its domination over the Middle East; its technological level which make it capable to develop and equip with advanced weapon systems; its support to terrorist organizations in Israel's vicinity and all over the world; and above all – its determined pursue to achieve nuclear capability, which may change essentially the balance of powers in the Middle East and impose existential threat on Israel – all these elements make Iran such a sever threat over Israel, at present and for long term in the future. "Israeli Strategies in the Middle East: The Case of Iran" is a must-read book about the conflict between Israel and Iran and its implications for the Middle East and the United States. Author Ehud Eilam provides essential information and a highly valuable analysis of current security issues facing Israel from Iran and its proxies.
-Major General. (Ret.) Ran Goren served as the Deputy Commander of the Israeli Air Force and as the Head of the Manpower Directorate at the General Staff of IDF.
The “Israeli Strategies in the Middle East: The Case of Iran” constitutes an important contribution to the scholarly literature of the complicated relationship between Israel and Iran. Ehud Eilam provides an in-depth examination of key national security aspects of Israel’s strategy toward Iran and its protégés. The book is essential for a better understanding of the new geopolitical architecture that had been shaped in the Middle East throughout the opening decades of the 21st century.
-Professor Uzi Rabi is the Director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, and a senior researcher at the Center for Iranian Studies, both at Tel Aviv University.
Over the years, Israeli scholar Ehud Eilam has established himself as a leading analyst of his country’s core security issues. Now, more particularly, with publication of Israeli Strategies in the Middle East, Dr. Eilam offers interested readers a fact-based and capable assessment of the Iranian strategic threat. Even moreprecisely, Eilam examines various plausible synergies between Iranian nuclearization and virulent Iranian proxies, especially Hezbollah. In this connection, inter alia, the author explores assorted points of convergence between the Israel-Iran conflict dyad and Hezbollah’s tangible connections to Syrian and Russian air forces. But things are changing. Looking ahead after Russia’s still-escalating war of aggression against Ukraine, prospects of continuing Russian-Israeli cooperation vis-à-vis Syria and Iran could become substantially less promising. As a considered Israeli endgame, Eilam clarifies that a defensive first strike against Iran remains “on the table,” and that, for Israel especially, the “Westphalian” system of world security remains oriented to self-help remedies. Whether considered in compelling increments or in its entirety, as a singular whole, Israeli Strategies in the Middle East represents a very valuable addition to the pertinent analytic literature. Accordingly, I am able to endorse this author’s work with real enthusiasm and without any reservations.-Louis René Beres (Ph.D., Princeton, 1971), Purdue University Professor Beres was Chair of “Project Daniel” (PM Sharon, 2003), an early effort to identify viable Israeli remedies for the Iranian strategic threat.
